The Latest Features
The Miracle of the Compact Disc and the Usefulness of the Shanling ET3 Transport
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- Written by Doug Schneider Doug Schneider
- Category: Monthly Column Monthly Column
- Created: 01 March 2025 01 March 2025
When the Compact Disc was released to the public in 1982, it seemed unimaginable that music encoded on a disc could one day be transmitted wirelessly, as we experience today. It seemed equally unimaginable that it could be stored on a server thousands of miles away and played back nearly instantaneously in the home, as now happens with streaming services. This was a time when physical media not only dominated the market, but was the only option for high-fidelity playback.
The T+A Elektroakustik R 2500 R Proves Why the Stereo Receiver Might Make a Comeback
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- Written by Doug Schneider Doug Schneider
- Category: System One System One
- Created: 01 March 2025 01 March 2025
Note: for the full suite of measurements from the SoundStage! Audio-Electronics Lab, click here.
Most hi-fi enthusiasts agree that the 1970s can be considered the golden age of the stereo receiver, which is essentially an integrated amplifier with a radio-reception capability. Stereo receivers were everywhere back then. By the 1980s, however, as separate components gained popularity, stereo receivers fell out of favor. The prevailing view was—has been—that standalone components (e.g., preamplifiers, amplifiers, tuners, CD players, phono stages) can be optimized for the particular function they serve without compromises and should therefore be able to offer superior performance to integrated components. Receivers and integrated amplifiers became second-class citizens of the hi-fi domain.
Focal Theva N°2 Loudspeaker
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- Written by Matt Bonaccio Matt Bonaccio
- Category: Full-Length Equipment Reviews Full-Length Equipment Reviews
- Created: 01 March 2025 01 March 2025
Note: measurements taken in the anechoic chamber at Canada’s National Research Council can be found through this link.
When striving to comprehend and assess abstruse things, we tend to resort to simplifications. Our general view of a company and its products, for instance, is often based on our impression of some representative sample from its offerings: a favorite crossover SUV from a car manufacturer, the flagship cellphone or TV from an electronics manufacturer. Likewise, we often perceive the top model from a loudspeaker manufacturer as indicative of the kind of quality that can be expected from other models from that brand and form our view of it accordingly. But an entry-level floorstander can also be a measure of a speaker maker’s competence. The Theva N°2 loudspeaker ($899 each; all prices in USD), from the French hi-fi audio equipment manufacturer Focal, a highly respected brand, exemplifies this correspondence perfectly.
Shunyata Research Theta Speaker Cable
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- Written by Killain Jones Killain Jones
- Category: Full-Length Equipment Reviews Full-Length Equipment Reviews
- Created: 15 February 2025 15 February 2025
The topic of cables is extremely polarizing among audiophiles. Different audiophiles have different thresholds for what they consider an acceptable amount to spend on cables; and the opinions about which type of cables should be prioritized—speaker cables, interconnects, or power cables—vary greatly. Because I’ve found that speaker cables deliver the greatest sonic improvement per dollar, they would be my first choice for an upgrade.
Recommended Reference Component: DALI Epikore 9 Loudspeaker
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- Written by SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors
- Category: Components Components
- Created: 15 February 2025 15 February 2025
The idea that bigger is better does not necessarily hold when it comes to loudspeakers. Some large speakers are capable of such prodigious low-end output that they can overwhelm a room. This was something Jason Thorpe experienced when he auditioned the DALI Epikore 11 ($60,000; all prices USD for a pair), the first model to be released in the Danish brand’s premium Epikore series.
January Snow Days—Treble Clef Audio and the David Chesky Trio
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- Written by Doug Schneider Doug Schneider
- Category: Monthly Column Monthly Column
- Created: 01 February 2025 01 February 2025
The Canadian winter hits hard here in Ottawa, where I live. From mid-December to mid-March snow is a near-constant companion to us, punctuated by occasional major snowstorms. We call those events snow days—sporadic snow flurries don’t really count here. Despite great advances in weather forecasting, the time of onset of such storms all too often eludes accurate prediction. Two of this January’s heavy snowfalls seemed set to foil my hi-fi adventures.
T+A Elektroakustik Criterion S 230 Loudspeaker
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- Written by George de Sa George de Sa
- Category: Full-Length Equipment Reviews Full-Length Equipment Reviews
- Created: 01 February 2025 01 February 2025
Note: measurements taken in the anechoic chamber at Canada’s National Research Council can be found through this link.
Growing up in Toronto, one of the most multicultural cities in North America, I’ve had the opportunity to experience foods and flavors from around the world. Of course, I’ve had my fill of cheeseburgers and fries, mac and cheese, and other North American staples, but from time to time I also indulge in Chinese, Middle Eastern, Filipino, and many other cuisines. Being of East Indian heritage, I am well accustomed to the rich variety of curry dishes and adore spicy food in all its forms. Of course, not everybody enjoys spicy foods—one’s palate, after all, is truly one’s own.
PSB Imagine T65 Loudspeaker
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- Written by Philip Beaudette Philip Beaudette
- Category: Full-Length Equipment Reviews Full-Length Equipment Reviews
- Created: 15 January 2025 15 January 2025
Note: measurements taken in the anechoic chamber at Canada’s National Research Council can be found through this link.
Last summer, when I was asked to review the PSB T65 floorstander, from the Canadian loudspeaker brand’s revamped Imagine series, I accepted the assignment without hesitation. As a young undergraduate and a budding audiophile on a shoestring budget, I cut my teeth on PSB speakers. PSB opened my ears to high-end sound. I purchased the PSB Image 4T floorstanders, my first pair of “real” speakers, in 2002. Four years later I replaced them with the Platinum M2s, PSB’s flagship bookshelf model at the time. Several other pairs of PSB speakers have graced my listening room in the ensuing years, entrusted to me for reviews for the SoundStage! Network. (My last review, about the PSB X2T towers, was in 2015.)
Recommended Reference Component: Arendal Sound 1528 Tower 8 Loudspeaker
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- Written by SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors SoundStage! Hi-Fi Editors
- Category: Components Components
- Created: 15 January 2025 15 January 2025
For the last few months, Norway’s Arendal Sound and its Tower 8 loudspeaker, the flagship model in the company’s new 1528 series, have consumed a lot of SoundStage! Network’s bandwidth: two videos on our YouTube channel—one about Arendal Sound, the other about the 1528 series—and three articles by Doug Schneider on this website about the Tower 8, the most detailed of which appeared as a full review in his December 1 System One column. The Tower 8 earned a Reviewers’ Choice award at the time this review was published and a Product of the Year award when the SoundStage! Network’s annual awards were announced, on December 15.
My Three Favorite Products of 2024
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- Written by Doug Schneider Doug Schneider
- Category: Monthly Column Monthly Column
- Created: 01 January 2025 01 January 2025
The SoundStage! Network’s Product of the Year awards for 2024 were announced on December 15 on this website and on our YouTube channel. Award winners were selected by our editorial team (which includes me). As in previous years, we sifted through reviews of products that received Reviewers’ Choice awards during the year on SoundStage! Hi-Fi and its sister websites—SoundStage! Ultra, SoundStage! Access, SoundStage! Simplifi, and SoundStage! Solo—and picked standout products in the different categories.
